Rough rounding machines



F 5, 1 3 e. w. CLEVERSEY 3,076,211

ROUGH ROUNDING MACHINES Filed March 14, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 [nwnfor Gerald WOlcz/ersey By his/1t to rn cg Feb. 5, 1963 s. w. CLEVERSEY ROUGH ROUNDING MACHINES Filed March 14, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 1963 G. w. CLEVERSEY 3,016,211

ROUGH ROUNDING MACHINES Filed March 14, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Feb. 5, 1963 G. w. CLEVERSEY 3,076,211

ROUGH ROUNDING MACHINES Filed March 14, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 1963 G. w. CLEVERSEY 3,076,211

ROUGH ROUNDING MACHINES Filed March 14, 1 962 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 3,076,21 1 Patented Feb.-5, 1963 United States Patent .Ofifice 3,076,211 ROUGH ROUNDING MACHINES Gerald W. Cleversey, Topsfield, Mass., assignor to United .Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N.J., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Mar. 14, 1962, Ser. No. 179,659

5 Claims. (Cl.12----17.2)

. ,This invention relates generally to machines for performing an operation upon the periphery of a shoe. More particularly, the invention is directed to a control means, for varying the cycle of operation of a machine, such as that disclosed in an application for United States Letters Patent ,Serial No. 101,481, filed April 7, 1961 in the nameof G. W. Cleversey. In the use of such a machine a shoe on which a peripheralqoperationis to be performed is carried by a jack which is oscillatedwith a stroke variable according to the size of the shoe which is also rotated upon the jack for presentation to a cutter head. The oscillatory and the rotative movements of the jack are so combined that the direction of movement of the shoe at the point where it is operated upon 'by the cutter head always conforms as nearly as possible to the direction of the sole edge. I The jack is provided with automatically operated gages which are. equally movable into engagement with the opposite ends of the shoe for centering the. shoe with respect to the axis of rotation of the jack and for measuring its size according to the extent of their movement. The jack is rotatably mounted upon an oscillating swing arm and provision is made for varying its amplitude of oscillationin accordance with the size of shoe, to be operated upon. 7 v

. Therotatingand oscillating movements of the jack as well as movements of the cutter head are brought about byacommon drive means having an invariable rate of speed, thus providing a fixed cycle time for operating on each shoepresented to the machine. This .speed, and hence also the cycle. time, is limited to the maximum speed at which the cutter head can operate with optimum quality upon the periphery of the largest size shoe; that can be accommodated. This means that a small shoe cannot be operated upon. any more quickly than a large shoe, resulting in; inefiicient operation of the machine fromboth a, speed .and quality standpoint.

.Accordingly,.it is .an object of this invention to vary the. cycle speed of themachine according to the size of shoe being operated upon so that the most efficient machine operation may be obtained; To this end the speed of the common means for driving thejack is controlled Thezmachine includes a cutter head 10 which normally is in an inoperative position as illustrated in FIG. 1 retracted from a jack 12 adapted to hold a lasted shoe upon which a sole rounding operation is to be performed. The illustrated cutter head 10 is substantially the same as that disclosed in an application for U.S. Letters Patent Serial No. 28,800, filed May 12, 19601 in the name of Paul Senfleben, now Patent No. 3,019,461, and has a chopping knife 14 which cooperates in shearing relation with an anvil 16 fixed upon the cutter head. The rounding cut is made under the control of a gage 18 the forward end of byrneans which. is automatically. adjusted according to 1 binations of parts will now be described with reference to?the accompanying-drawings 'andithereafter particularly pointedout in'the appended claims.

"In the drawings, 1

'FIG. lsisa side elevation of an illustrative machine embodying the presentinvention;

'5FIG.. 2 is a front elevation of the jack mechanism supporting the shoe; k i i 1 a FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 with parts shown in differentpositions; r r r FIG. 4 is a plan view of the jack driving mechanism: FIG; 5 is a plan view including portions of the mechanisms shown inFIG. 4 interconnected schematically with the size measuring mechanism of the jack; and

" IG. 6 is a diagram showing a typical flow control valve."

which bears against the side of the shoe upper contiguous to the welt crease when the cutter head is in operative relation to the work and at the same time the upper surface of the weltis heated upon the upper sides of the gage and anvil. A yieldingly mounted bottom rest 20 rolls upon the bottom of the sole adjacent to the knife and urges the upper surface of the welt against the gage 18 and anvil 16.

The jack 12 is rotatably mounted upon the forward portion of a swing arm 22 having at the rear thereof a sleeve 24 mounted to oscillate about a vertical axis in the base 26 of the machine. One complete transfer of the point of operation of the cutter head upon the shoe about its periphery is effected by simultaneously rotating the jack counterclockwise through one revolution upon the arm 22 and oscillating the arm back and forth. The jack 12 is generally similarto that shown in the abovementioned application Serial No. 101,481; and since a complete description may be had therein, only those parts of the jack pertinent to the present invention will be described. Referring to FIGS:2 and 3, it may be seen that a last having a shoe thereon is carried by a self-adjusting support 11-0 which follows the shoe movement during the centering movements of a heel gage 150 and a toe gage 152. For centering the shoe, the gages are movable into engagement with the opposite ends of the shoe while re-' maining equidistant from the center. of rotation ofthe jack.

'Iheheel gage 150 comprises a flexible strap 151 carried by a pair of arms 153 upstanding from'a frame 157. This frame .is mounted for movement on the jack by'a parallel linkage which includes a pair of levers 120 and a pairof levers 154, only one lever of each pair being visible previously mentioned levers 120 to interconnect the heel gage- 150 and the toegage 152 for equal movements toward and away from each other and relative to the center of rotationof the jack.-

- Prior to their shoe centering movements, the toe and heel gages are held apart by fluid operated mechanism which includes -a' telescoping link l80 connecting the holder-162 to one armof a bell crank-"182. The other arm of the bell crank is connected to a piston 188 received in a cylinder 190 pivoted at its lower. end to the jack frame. Preparatory toinitiating the machine operation, the operator raises the bottom rest 20 ('FIG. 1) of the cutter head 10 by means of a toggle lever 21which actuates a switch M 1 setting into operation a solenoid operated valve (not shown) which admits pressure fluid to the cylinder 190.

1 The pressure fluid raises the piston 188 moving the tele? scoping link 180 to the left as seen in FIG. 3, causing the gages 152, to be closed against the opposite ends of the shoe. In this manner the gages move the shoe until it is positioned with the midpoint of its bottom located substantially on the axis of rotation of the jack.

The closing movement of the heel and toe gages in addition to centering the shoe also act to measure its length according to the movement of the heel gage levers. One of the levers 154 is provided with a depending arm 200 which is connected by a link 202 to another depending arm 204 pivoted on the jack frame. This arm is further connected by an adjustable link 206 to one arm of a bell crank 208 (see also FIG. 5) pivoted on a bracket 210 secured to the rotating base 50. The other arm of the bell crank is provided with a roll 212 which engages a groove 214 in a slide 216 mounted for movement in a bracket 217 secured to the swing arm. A push rod 226 fixed to the slide is connected by a Bowden cable 228 to another push rod 230 pivoted to one arm of a lever 231. The other arm of the lever is connected by a link 232 to a rod 234 mounted for sliding movement in lugs 235. The rod has fixed thereto a plate 238 which slides in a guideway formed in a bracket 236 and has mounted thereon a microswitch M2. Thus, the extent of movement of the heel gage 150, in measuring and centering the shoe, controls, through the above mechanism the position of the microswitch M2 and, as will presently appear, also determines the extent of adjustment of the swing arm amplitude as well as the adjustment of the cycle speed of the machine. The jack 12 has a base 50 (FIG. 1) which is rotatably mounted in the arm 22, the base being driven by a train of gears housed in the arm. One of these gears 52 is fixed upon the upper end of a shaft 54 mounted for rotation within the sleeve 24. A gear 56 (FIG. 4) fixed on the lower end of the shaft 54 is rotated at a variable velocity by a gear 58 under the control of mechanism comprising a fixed cam 60. This mechanism is driven by other gears including an idler gear on the shaft 54 directly under the gear 56 and meshing with another gear 62 driven by a pinion 64. This pinion is driven by a rotary hydraulic motor 66 which is the common drive means for rotating as well as oscillating the jack and for controlling the various motions of the cutter head.

The gear 62 is fixed upon a vertical shaft 68 rotatably mounted in the base 26 and during a cycle of operation of the machine the gear makes one complete revolution during which the arm 22 is swung in the manner stated above by the following connections. A cam 70 fixed upon the shaft 68 is engaged by a roll 72 on a bell crank 74 pivoted at 76 on the bracket 236 fixed upon the base 26. The bell crank is connected by a link 80 to one end of a lever 82 to the other end of which is pivoted a link 84, connecting the lever 82 with an arm 86 fixed upon the sleeve 24. The link 84 is urged to the left causing the roll 72 to be held against the cam 70 by a spring 88 in the manner shown in FIG. 4. In the midportion of the lever 82 there is a slot 95 (see also FIG. 5) which receives a fulcrum block 96 adjustable within the slot so as to vary the relative lengths of the arms of the lever 82 and hence also vary the amplitude of oscillation of the arm 22. The structure referred to thus far is generally similar to the corresponding structure in the above mentioned applications as well as in United States Letters Patent No. 2,869,- l56 to which reference may be had for a more detailed description.

A fully described in the above-mentioned applications, the fulcrum block 96 is mounted on a rod 240 the end portions of which form pistons and are received in cylinders 250, 252. At the beginning of a cycle of operation of the machine fluid pressure is admitted to the cylinder 252 to move the rod 240 and block 96 until a cam piece 254 on a lug 255 fixed on the rod actuates a microswitch M2. The microswitch as more fully described in the above-mentioned applications controls the operation of a solenoid operated valve (not shown) to prevent any flow of pressure fluid into or out of the cylinders 250, 252. In this manner the fulcrum block is hydraulically locked in a position related to the size of shoe to be operated upon, thus controlling the amplitude of oscillation of the swing arm 22 commensurate with the size of shoe on the jack.

The lug 255 also has connected thereto a chain 256 which runs over a sprocket 258 on a shaft 259 extending from a speed control unit 260. The other end of the chain 256 is connected by a spring 262 to a portion of the frame maintaining the chain continually under tension so that the sprocket 258 is rotated directly in response to movement of the lug 255 to adjust the unit 260 according to the size of shoe to be operated upon. The speed control unit 260 comprises a valve which controls the rate of flow of fluid fed from a source of pressure fluid (not shown) by a pipe 264 through the valve and a pipe 266 to the motor 66 (see also FIG. 5). For adjusting the flow rate and hence also the speed of the motor 66, the valve is provided with the shaft 259 on which is fixed the sprocket 258. Rotation of the shaft according to the size of shoe to be operated upon as above described, controls, in a well-known manner, the size of ports through which the fluid flows.

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic illustration of a typical flow control valve modified for use in the present machine. It should be understood, however, that a wide variety of flow control valves are commercially available and would also be suitable for use upon modification for automatic adjustment without departing from the scope of the present invention. As seen in FIG. 6, the rate of flow of fluid from the pipe 264 is first controlled by the position of a valve element 274 relative to an inlet port 270. The element 274 is provided with a piston 278, one side of which is responsive to the pressure entering the valve, and the other side of which is responsive to pressure at the outlet pipe 266. Thus the opening leading into the valve is variable in response to variations in pressure in the outlet pipe 266. The rate of flow is also controlled by adjustment of an element 282 formed on one end of the adjusting shaft 259. The shaft is threaded in the body of the valve so that rotation of the shaft through the action of the sprocket 2'58 and chain 256 moves the element 282 -to vary the opening leading from a port 283. Thus, it should be apparent that the opening at the port 283 is variable according to the size of shoe to be operated upon to control the basic rate of flow to the motor 66 to control its speed, while the opening at the port 270 is variable to maintain the rate of flow and motor speed uniform regardless of variations in pressure caused by changing loads on the motor during different portions of the machine cycle.

While only the mechanisms for rotating and swinging the jack have been described, reference to United States Letters Patent No. 2,869,156 will show that all of the various controls for the jack as well as for the cutter head movements are driven from the pinion 64. Thus, it should be obvious that varying the speed of the motor 66 according to the size of shoe to be operated upon automatically varies the entire cycle time of the machine to obtain the optimum efficiency and quality from the machine for all shoes operated upon regardless of their size.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a shoe machine having an operating head and a jack for rotating a shoe about an axis to present the periphery of the shoe progressively to said head, driving means for rotating said jack, control means for varying the speed of said driving means, gages mounted on said jack and movable to position a shoe and to measure its length, and means operated in response to the measuring movements of the gages for adjusting said control means to determine the speed of notation of said jack according to the length of the shoe mounted thereon.

2. In a shoe machine having an operating head and a jack for rotating a shoe about an axis to present the periphery of the shoe progressively to said head, a fluid motor for rotating said jack, a valve adjust-able to vary the rate of flow of pressure fluid to said motor to vary its driving speed, gages movable to position a shoe on said jack and to measure its length, and means operated in response to the measuring movements of the gages for adjusting said valve to determine the speed of rotation of said jack according to the length of the shoe mounted thereon.

3. In a shoe machine having an operating head and a jack for holding a shoe to be operated upon, means for rotating said jack about an axis and for oscillating the jack back and forth to present the periphery of a shoe progressively to said head, means for moving said operating head toward and away from said jack according to a sequence timed with relation to the movements of the jack, gages movable to position a shoe on the jack and to measure its size, common driving means for operating said jack rotating and oscillating means and for operating said head moving means, control means for varying the speed of said common driving means, and means operated in response to the measuring movements of said gages for adjusting said control means to vary the speed of said driving means and thereby to vary the cycle speed of said machine in accordance with variations in length of shoes of different sizes. v

4. In a shoe machine having an operating head and a jack for holding a shoe to be operated upon, means for rotating said jack about an axis and for oscillating the jack back and forth to present the periphery of a shoe progressively to said head, means for moving said operating head toward and away from said jack according to a sequence timed with relation to the movements of the jack, gages movable to position a shoe on the jack and to measure its size, a fluid motor for driving said jack rotating and oscillating means and said head moving means, a valve adjustable to vary the rate of flow of pressure fluid to said motor to vary its driving speed, and means operated in response to the measuring movements of said gages for variably adjusting said valve to determine the driving speed of said motor in accordance with the size of each shoe to be operated upon.

5. In a shoe machine having an operating head and a jack for holding a shoe to be operated upon, said jack being rotated about an axis to present the periphery of a shoe progressively to said head, driving means for rotating said jack, control means for varying the speed of said driving means, shoe positioning gages equidistant from said axis and mounted on the jack for equal and opposite relative movements lengthwise of the shoe, mechanism for moving the gages into engagement with the opposite ends of the shoe to center the shoe with respect to said axis and to measure its length by the extent of movement of said gages, and means operated by said mechanism for adjusting said control means according to the measured length of the shoe to determine the speed of rotation of said jack according to the length of the shoe mounted thereon.

No references cited. 

1. IN A SHOE MACHINE HAVING AN OPERATING HEAD AND A JACK FOR ROTATING A SHOE ABOUT AN AXIS TO PRESENT THE PERIPHERY OF THE SHOE PROGRESSIVELY TO SAID HEAD, DRIVING MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID JACK, CONTROL MEANS FOR VARYING THE SPEED OF SAID DRIVING MEANS, GAGES MOUNTED ON SAID JACK AND MOVABLE TO POSITION A SHOE AND TO MEASURE ITS LENGTH, AND MEANS OPERATED IN RESPONSE TO THE MEASURING MOVEMENTS OF THE GAGES FOR ADJUSTING SAID CONTROL MEANS TO DETERMINE THE SPEED OF ROTATION OF SAID JACK ACCORDING TO THE LENGTH OF THE SHOE MOUNTED THEREON. 